<?php or <?

[AndrewRy]

Hello,

I am starting to get more into PHP coding even though I have been using it for several months now. My question is which delimiter is better to use:

<?php or <?

Is it just general preference or is there one that can be better in some ways than the other depending on PHP version and server?

[Chevy]

I think <? is better, thats what I always use

[akitchin]

it's merely preference.  it's better to be in the habit of using <?php, as this will always work.  <? will only work when the setting in php.ini (i think it's something like allow_shorttags) is enabled; otherwise, you'd have to go back and change all those tags if you end up on a host that doesn't enable the setting.

[kenrbnsn]

It has been rumored that the use of short tags "<?" and "<?=" will be going away in PHP6. The problem is that the start tag for XML also starts with a "<?". So just allowing the short tags can be confusing.

Ken

[hostfreak]

It depends. As of now, the standard tag <?php ?> and the script tag
<script language="php"></script> will always work. The short tag <? ?> will only work if short_open_tag is switched to "on" in php.ini .

[willfitch]

Actually,

You can run into issues with short tags (<? ).  If you are trying to use XML with PHP, XML will require the opener (<?xml), and allowing short tags will confuse the interpreter.

[wildteen88]

I would agree it is down to personal preference. I prefer <?php as then I know my script will run in any enviroment. Also <?, <?= and <script language="php"></script> will be gone as of PHP6.